I finally got the chance to read this book, which was graciously given to me by the authors. I think the best part about this series is the food. All of the food described sounds so delicious that you'll find your mouth watering as you read it. Luckily they have a bunch of the recipes at the back of the book.

I admit I preferred the first book, because this one seemed to move slower, explaining a lot of things from the first book, but this one was a little tougher to figure out who the murderer was. The main character Chloe, is quite self centered, which you will either find funny or annoying.

Overall, it is a fun light read for the beach.

I was given this book by Miss Chickie herself to review. I believe she got it from the book's publisher. It was a cute novel. I had been so used to reading University English novels all year that it was nice to read something a little more laid back. Here's the basic plot line:

The novel focuses on Chloe, a student of social work that is trying to keep balance in her life between her boyfriend Josh, their careers and her family. Chloe seems to have everything going for her, a great job prospect, an amazing chef boyfriend who is opening his own restaurant, and loyal friends. However, amidst the chaos of the holiday season Chloe's life becomes more complicated. One of Josh's investors for his new restaurant is murdered at a charity event that Chloe is hosting and this where the story begins to unravel. Chloe is determined to discover the murderer and make sure that it is blamed on Josh's conniving ex-girlfriend Hannah.

Don't expect to find an in-depth intellectual read with this novel. It's cute and very cheeky however I found this to be somewhat unbearable at some points. If you like to cook though, this would probably be a fun read for you. The novel focuses greatly on food and the preparation of what Josh is making. The recipes for the dishes that are made are given at the end of the novel. Sometimes I found that the extremely detailed descriptions of the food took away from the plotline of the novel.

The genre of the book is original as well. It's not very often that you find "a gourmet girl mystery" oriented book. All in all, the book was cute. It would be a fun pool-side read for the summer!